Interdental brushes by the hundred. Favour tins by the gross. Dish brushes in eights, because one wears out in six weeks and the next one should already be in the drawer. Every page here gives the pack size and the price per piece.
The catalogue
Everything in Patelai is a small object that gets used up, lost, handed out or worn through, and all of it is sold in multiples for that reason. The categories below are not departments so much as reasons: a date in the calendar, a drawer that needs restocking, a project that eats consumables.
Garlands, banners, favour tins, glassware and the hundred small things a date needs
266 products
Boards, moulds, drinkware, serving tools and the covers that keep it all fresh
191 products
Interdental brushes, combs, travel bottles, nail and barber tools
143 products
Robes, thermals, gloves, sun protection and bulk backpacks
101 products
Resin tools, moulds, findings, blanks and the consumables a project eats
76 products
Tins, jars, vials, hooks, racks and small organisers
76 products
Dish brushes, sponges, scrubbers, cloths and cleaning gloves
42 products
Pull chains, light covers, clips, magnets, pads and small fixings
59 products
Folders, index cards, classroom kits and the stationery a term gets through
21 productsWhat we publish
A pack price tells you almost nothing. Eight dish brushes for twelve dollars and three dish brushes for six are the same shelf and completely different purchases, and the only way to see it is to divide.
So we divide, on every product page, and print the answer next to the price. It is the number that makes two packs comparable, and it is the reason our packs are the size they are: 830 of the 975 products in the Patelai kitchen range come as sets rather than singles.
How often those figures are refreshed is on how we update, and how the things themselves are made is on how it is made.
| Product | Category | Pack | Price | Per piece |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1000 Pcs Christmas Thank You for Your Order | Party & celebration | 1000 | $9.59 | 1¢ |
| 1500 Pcs Index Cards Flash Cards with Rings 2 x 3.5 | Home & hardware | 1500 | $23.99 | 2¢ |
| 450 Pcs Ice Pop Bags Freeze Molds with Silicone | Kitchen & table | 450 | $14.99 | 3¢ |
| 300 Pcs Ice Pop Bags Freeze Molds with Silicone | Kitchen & table | 300 | $9.99 | 3¢ |
| 144Pcs Summer Temporary Tattoos for Kid Hawaiian | Party & celebration | 144 | $4.79 | 3¢ |
| 480 Pieces Large Rubber Bands Elastic Big Thick | Office & school | 480 | $18.99 | 4¢ |
| 200 Pcs Diamond Painting Release Paper Diamond | Craft & making | 200 | $9.49 | 5¢ |
| 350 Pcs Floss Interdental Brush for Teeth Oral Care | Personal care | 350 | $19.99 | 6¢ |
The useful test for anything in this catalogue is not what it costs, it is what it costs per use. A hundred interdental brushes is a year of doing what the dentist asked, and it costs less than a takeaway.
The planner
Every gathering runs short of one thing, and it is nearly always napkins. Put in the guest count and the shape of the evening, and this works out the quantities and points at the pack that covers each of them. The ratios are our own planning rules, arrived at by supplying a lot of these events, and they are printed in the last column so you can disagree with them.
Where a row says we do not make something, that is the honest answer rather than a substitution: napkins and drinking straws are two things our catalogue does not currently include.
Pack sizes
Pack size is not a marketing decision. It is set by how fast the thing is used up, and that varies enormously across a catalogue this wide. Here is the shape of it, category by category, taken from what is actually listed.
| Category | Products | Sold as sets | Usual pack | Largest pack | Prices from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party & celebration | 266 | 208 | 12 pcs | 1000 pcs | $4.79 |
| Kitchen & table | 191 | 176 | 8 pcs | 1000 pcs | $3.99 |
| Personal care | 143 | 104 | 12 pcs | 350 pcs | $4.29 |
| Clothing & accessories | 101 | 95 | 3 pcs | 96 pcs | $6.39 |
| Craft & making | 76 | 66 | 20 pcs | 300 pcs | $3.99 |
| Storage & containers | 76 | 70 | 4 pcs | 100 pcs | $5.59 |
| Cleaning & brushes | 42 | 40 | 9 pcs | 100 pcs | $5.69 |
| Home & hardware | 59 | 55 | 6 pcs | 1500 pcs | $5.99 |
| Office & school | 21 | 16 | 20 pcs | 480 pcs | $7.99 |
The two ends of that table say the most. Personal care runs to the largest packs because an interdental brush is replaced weekly; clothing runs to the smallest because nobody needs a hundred robes. Everything between follows the same logic.
Most rated
Ranked by how many people have rated them rather than by what we would like to sell, and capped at two per category so the list shows the catalogue instead of one shelf.
4.4 (16,150)
$14.24
3 pieces, $4.75 each
Buy on Amazon
4.5 (5,014)
$8.99
100 pieces, 9¢ each
Buy on Amazon
4.5 (4,924)
$8.95
4 pieces, $2.24 each
Buy on Amazon
4.5 (4,924)
$9.99
4 pieces, $2.50 each
Buy on Amazon
4.7 (3,614)
$8.99
3 pieces, $3.00 each
Buy on AmazonA closer look
The full gallery has more, sorted by category.
How it is made
Almost everything we make is simple enough to describe in a sentence and easy enough to get wrong in a dozen places. A dish brush is a handle, bristles and a hole to hang it by. Whether it lasts six weeks or six months comes down to how the bristles are anchored, and that is a decision somebody makes long before the first one is cut.
The how it is made page sets out what we specify, what gets checked before a batch ships, and where we draw the line on what we will claim about materials.
The people behind an order
Roles rather than portraits: what follows is what each part of the work actually decides.
Decides what to make and how many go in the box
Sets the pack size, which is the single decision that defines this catalogue. Eight dish brushes rather than three, a hundred interdental brushes rather than twenty.
Finds who can make it and holds them to the specification
Turns a drawing into a supplier, a price and a written specification, then keeps all three from drifting apart between production runs.
Says no to a batch, and counts what is in the pack
Runs the checks before a run ships. The most common defect it catches is not breakage, it is a pack of a hundred that holds ninety four.
Decides how it survives the journey and how it opens
Chooses the inner packing and the carton. Damage in transit is decided here, and so is whether the first thirty seconds of opening are pleasant or annoying.
Answers the question that actually gets asked
Almost never about the whole product. About one size, one measurement, one lid that will not fit the jar somebody already owns.
Publishes the catalogue and keeps the figures current
Writes the product pages, refreshes prices and ratings on a schedule, and keeps the arithmetic visible rather than tucked into a footnote.
The full description of each role is on our team page.
Where we draw the line
A catalogue this wide is an invitation to overclaim. Food safe, medical grade, hypoallergenic, eco friendly: all four appear on products like ours every day, and most of the time they mean nothing that can be checked.
We publish the properties a specification actually states and stop there. Where a phrase has a legal meaning we explain what that meaning is rather than borrowing its authority, and the two clearest examples, food contact materials and small parts, have their own sections on how it is made.
Journal
Forty guests, four hours, and the six numbers that decide whether the evening runs smoothly or somebody is rinsing cups at nine.
13 min read
The price on the shelf is the wrong number to compare. Here is the right one, where the saving really comes from, and the three cases where buying a hundred is a mistake.
12 min read
The mould says it holds sixty grams. The pour needs ninety. This is where the difference goes, and how to buy for the project rather than for the piece.
12 min read975 products across 9 categories, 830 of them sold as sets, with the price per piece on every one.